Apparatus for cleaning ball bearings



Dec. 9, 1969 R. N. SCHIPKE APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BALL BEARINGS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 23, 1967 VIBRATOR R6 W5 Z? i l ATTORNEY Dec.9, 1969 R. N. SCHIPKE 3,482,584

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BALL BEARINGS Filed Aug. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet2 VIBRATOR I N VEN TOR.

BY My: xz Srh M'e ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 134-116 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for cleaning a ball bearingassembly that provides for placing the assembly in a bath of cleaningliquid subjected to ultrasonic vibrations and moving the bearingassembly as a unit to different positions in the bath while rotating oneof the races.

This invention relates to cleaning ball bearing assemblies and moreparticularly to an apparatus that provides for supporting the assembliesin a cleaning liquid during an ultrasonic cleaning operation.

One form of ultrasonic equipment presently available for cleaning ballbearings requires the bearing assemblies to be placed stationary in abasket and lowered into a bath of cleaning liquid subjected to vibratoryenergy. One difiiculty with this method of cleaning is that it does notprovide adequate exposure of all portions of the bearing to be cleaned.Another drawback is that the vibrations generated in the bath tend to bedampened due to the bulk in the basket. As a result, many of thebearings must undergo secondary cleaning operations prior to meetingcritical performance specifications.

Accordingly, the objects of the present invention are to provide anapparatus for supporting ball hearing assemblies in a bath of cleaningliquid subjected to ultrasonic vibrations; to provide an apparatus forcleaning ball bearing assemblies that assure maximum exposure of allparts of the bearing assembly; to provide an apparatus that supports andhandles ball bearings during an ultrasonic cleaning operation and servesto rotate one of the races relative to the other so as to give completeexposure of the assembly to the agitated cleaning liquid; to provide adevice for supporting bearings of different sizes in an ultrasoniccleaning bath, and to provide a carrier for a ball bearing assembly thatwill reciprocate the latter as a unit in a bath of ultrasonicallyvibrated cleaning liquid while rotating one race relative to the other.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be moreapparent from the following detailed description of the invention whentaken with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view showing a ball bearing support device madein accordance with the invention and located adjacent a bath of cleaningliquid;

FIGURE 2 shows the ball bearing support device of FIGURE 1 located inthe bath of cleaning liuqid;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken on line 33 of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the support device handling a ballbearing of a smaller size than that incorporated with the device ofFIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly FIG- URE 1 thereof, aball bearing support device made in accordance with the invention isshown positioned adjacent to a tub 12 within which a cleaning liquid 14is located. A vibrator 16 is located beneath the tub 12 and is adaptedto generate ultrasonic vibrations within the cleaning liquid 14 in amanner well known to those skilled in the art.

3,482,584] Patented Dec. 9, 1969 The support device 10 includes astanchion 18, the lower end of which is fixedly attached to the floor 19ad acent the tub 12. The upper end of the stanchion 18 is provided withan air cylinder 20, the piston rod 22 of which is connected to a primarycarriage 24 which serves to support a ball bearing assembly 26 havingthe usual outer race 28 and inner race 30 with a plurality of rotatableballs 32 therebetween.

More specifically, the carriage 24 comprises a frame 34 depending froman arm 36 that is mounted on the stanchion 18 for vertical movementtherealong under the control of the cylinder 20. The lower end of theframe 34 is joined to a laterally extending foot 38 which is connectedwith a vertically oriented rod 40 supporting three identical blades 42which radially extend from the the upper end of the rod. The blades 42are circumferentially equally spaced from each other by angles ofapproximately 120 and each is shaped so as to have an inclined uppersurface 44 which extends downwardly toward the rod 40 with all surfaces44 of the blades lying in a common cone, the apex of which iscoincidental with the longitudinal axis of the rod. Although not shown,the blades 42 are made of relatively thin sheet metal for reasons whichwill be more apparent as the description of the invention proceeds.

A secondary carriage 46 is mounted within the primary carriage 24 and issupported for movement by frame 34 between the positions shown in FIGURE1 and that of FIGURE 2 by an air cylinder 48 mounted on an extension 50of the arm 36. The secondary carriage 46 has an arm 51 which serves tosupport an inner race driver 52 consisting of two pairs of links 54 and56 pivotally connected to each other at their outer ends, while theinner end of each link 54 is pivotally connected to a collar 58 slidablysupported on a drive shaft 60 which in turn is adapted to 'be rotated byan electric motor 62 through a flexible drive shaft 64. The inner endsof the links 56 are pivotally attached to the lower end of the driveshaft 60 at a common point, and a coil spring 66 biases the collar 58downwardly so the links of the driver 52 assume the position of FIGURE 1in the normal position. It will be noted that the driver 52 can beutilized with bearings of various sizes while providing a firm wedgetype engagement with the inner race due to the link arrangementdescribed above. A thin plate 68 is attached to the lower end of thesecondary carriage 46 and has slots 70 formed therein which correspondin relative position and register with the blades 42. The plate 68functions as an initial support for the bearing to be cleaned afterwhich it is removed in a manner to be described below.

The operation of the above-described bearing support device 10 is asfollows:

With the various portions of the support device 10 being positioned asshown in FIGURE 1, the ball bearing assembly 26 is initially placed onthe plate 68 and centrally located relative to the slots 70. Thereafter,the air cylinder 48 is expanded causing the secondary carriage 46 and,accordingly, the plate 68 to move downwardly so that the plate 68assumes the position shown in FIG- URE 2 at which time the outer race 28is supported by the blades 42. At the same time, the links 56 of thedriver 52 make frictional contact with the inner race 30 of the ballbearing assembly 26. This is followed by expansion of the air cylinder20 causing the primary carriage 24 to be lowered into the bath 12 ofcleaning liquid. At this time, all the parts of the bearing supportdevice 10 assume the position shown in FIGURE 2. It will be understoodthat by the time the carriage 24 enters the cleaning liquid 14, thevibrator 16 has been activated causing ultrasonic vibrations to begenerated in the cleaning liquid. For best cleaning results it has beenfound the and 100,000 cycles 'per second with" optimum operating"frequency being approximately 40,000 cycles per second.

Once the bearing is washed, the primary carriage 24 is raised bycontracting the air cylinder 20 and similarly the secondary carriage 46is moved upwardly relative to the primary carriage 24. Thereafter, theball bearing assembly 26 is removed from the plate 68 and can bereplaced by a new bearing to be cleaned.

Inasmuch as the support blades 42 are tapered as aforedescribed, onlythe outer race 28 of the ball hearing assembly 26 remains stationarywhile resting on the legs. Accordingly, the frictional engagement of therotating driver 52 with the inner race 30 causes the latter to berotated while the assembly 26 is in the bath. During such rotation, theprimary carriage 24 is continuously reciprocated thereby exposing thebearing assembly 26 to various locations in the cleaning liquid 14 whilethe inner race 30 is being rotated. The purpose for reciprocating thebearing assembly 26 is to expose the latter to most effective andintense vibrations occurring within the cleaning liquid 14. As is wellknown, any medium exposed to vibratory energy tends to have antinode andnodal points with the latter constituting points of least vibration.Thus, in order to obtain the most effective cleaning, the bearingsshould be located in the cleaning liquid at the antinode point or pointsof maximum viration to ensure that dirt and all other foreign matterwill be dislodged from the bearing surfaces. It should be apparent thatthe reciprocal movement of the primary carriage 24 will assure this formof effective cleaning and, when augmented by the rotating inner race 30during the washing cycle, the possibility of foot prints occurringbetween stationary parts of the bearing is precluded.

As mentioned above, the blades 42 are made from relatively thin sheetmetal and similarly it should be noted that both the primary andsecondary carriages are formed from metal stock having a minimal crosssection while having the required strength for supporting the bearing asdescribed. By so doing, the usual bulk encountered in cleaning equipmentof this type is eliminated so that when submerged within the cleaningliquid 14, any damping effect on the vibrated liquid is negligible.

FIGURE 4 shows the blades 42 supporting a ball hearing assembly 26 ofmuch smaller diameter than that incorporated with the device shown inFIGURES 1 and 2. From this view, it should be apparent that by taperingthe upper surfaces of the blades 42 inwardly toward the rod 40 it ispossible to support various sizes of bearings with the same equipment.Similarly, the tapered form of the driver 52 allows the central portionthereof to be inserted within the opening of the ball bearing assemblyand contact the inner race for rotating same during the cleaningoperation. As should be apparent, the air cylinder 48 providessufficient downward force so when the driver 52 contacts the ballbearing, the outer race is frictionally restrained from movementrelative to the blades 42.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for supporting a ball bearing assembly in a bath ofcleaning liquid during an ultrasonic cleaning operation, said ballbearing assembly having an inner race and an outer race, said apparatuscomprising a plurality of relatively thin upstanding blades whichcooperatively establish a seat for said outer race, means engaging theinner race and rotating the latter relative to the supported outer race,and a primary carriage supporting said blades for reciprocation wherebysaid hearing assembly is moved as a unit in said bath while the innerrace is being rotated.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said blades extend radially from asupport rod and the edge of each blade supporting the bearing assemblyis tapered toward the center of the rod.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a secondary carriage supports themeans for rotating the inner race, and said secondary carriage iscarried by the primary carriage for movement between a first positionwherein said means engages the inner race and a second position whereinsaid means is out of engagement with the inner race and spaced therefroma distance sufficient to permit removal of the bearing assembly fromsaid blades.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for rotating the innerrace has the bearing engaging surface thereof located in an imaginarycone.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said means comprises a plurality oflinks pivotally connected to a drive shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,766,208 6/1930 Anstiss 134-1 162,549,837 4/1951 Merritt 134-116 XR 2,828,231 3/1958 Henry 134-1 ROBERTL. BLEUTGE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

